Introduction: Review – the Sailing adventure has ended. They unload from the boat.

a. The End of the Sailing Adventure; it began back in 7.1 (review)

i. It rained for 40 days (7.11: in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.)

ii. It resided on the earth for 110 more days (total 150 days); 7.24; rd 8.1

Transition: So, 1st we have the End of the Sailing Adventure, 2nd we have the…

b. The Exit of the Sailing Ark

Faith is seen in the releasing of the dove; It receded for 150 days until it was gone; 8.3; the dove affirmed that the water had receded and the plant life was coming back. I don’t know how high Mt. Ararat is, but for a dove to fly back up the mountain is pretty cool.

c. The Erecting of a Sacrificial Altar

Sacrifices offered to God; he took some of every clean animal and offered them to Yahweh. Why? Up to this time, every thought of every person and every inclination was always evil. Noah offers a sacrifice to the LORD and even though humans are still evil, God makes a Covenant with Noah:

And this was the 2nd part of our study of the flood…

1st, thought was of God, so he built an altar…

2nd, Blessing – be fruitful, multiply

3rd, Grace: Note, life is sacred

4th, Covenant: I’ll never do that again

5th, Sign of the Covenant: Rainbow (My Bow)

I wonder what that day was like? Was it similar to the garden? Was it beautiful? It sounds like the end to a beautiful story.

He was righteous, blameless, he walked with God (like Enoch).

He did all that God commanded him (4x’s);

He was obedient & Patient…

Transition: So, after this grand voyage, how will he do? Will they all live happily ever after?

I’ve divided this passage up into 4 parts:

1. Noah’s Sons (8.18-19)

exp.:

a. Shem

b. Ham (the father of Canaan, who is the 4th Child of Ham!)

c. Japheth

2. Noah Sins (8.20-21)

exp.: in this passage we see Noah, a worker of the soil, grew a vineyard and made some wine. Fresh from the Ark, Fresh from the glow of the rainbow goes in and lies naked in his tent. Some scholars cut Noah some slack saying he didn’t really know better. But I disagree

· How old was the man? Do you think he’s learned something in his 600 years of life? Look what he came from!

· He didn’t just get off the boat yesterday. Remember the earth was destroyed. He’s got to plant a vineyard. That’s time consuming. It will take some time for these plants to grow. Once these plants have reached maturity, they produce grapes. Grapes then produce wine. You’re looking at least a 3-4 year period.

· I think more time has passed than just 3 or 4 years, because Canaan, who is mentioned here is 4th child of Ham (cf.: 10.6)

· Noah then gets drunk on the wine he’s produced. He gets so drunk, that he ‘uncovers’ himself in his tent. He overly indulged in drinking and self degraded himself. From what I understand of v 21 is that in the Hebrew, the phrase lay uncovered is in the reflexive which means that he uncovered himself – that he got so drunk, he didn’t have control of himself. So, he in a spiritual sense, covered himself with shame, disgrace, sin. Habakkuk 2.15-16; Lamentations 4.21-22

App.: Wow, we see this great man, who we respect and celebrate, is a sinner, too! Sin made it through the flood. Sin abounds, in spite of Noah’s righteousness. I think what we learn here is that Noah’s righteousness isn’t based on anything he does or doesn’t do; But, rather, it is based on God’s decision. Noah is righteous, blameless and able to walk with God (6.9) because of God’s decision to make him that way. The term we use is imputed. I think this is seen in his obedience, etc.

App.: #2 – here is a man who walked with God, blameless, etc., and yet he sinned. And so we should remember that we are, too. We should also remember that Noah was pretty old when this happened. Lesson: we are never too old when temptation doesn’t affect us.

Ill.: David w/ Bathsheba. You think that you’re safe because you’re in your home, in the midst of your people. Solomon is another great example. Started out great, but failed later in the years. Can you think of someone who did great younger, but failed in their later years?

App.: I think there are sins we can commit, in the privacy of our own home, that we think no one knows about and no one sees, but that sin can effect our children – even our older children.

The Implications for us: What’s the Main point? Man is still prone to sin – even though he’s done wonderfully in obedience and perseverance, Noah didn’t finish strong.

Transition: Sin was alive and well in Noah, and we see it also in his sons. Especially, we note Ham.

a. Noah’s Son’s Reaction (8.22)

exp.: read v 22; Ham evidently took a perverse pleasure and attitude in exposing his Father’s nakedness. What is the 5th commandment? So that it might go well with you and that your days may be long in the land…; Noah uncovered himself; however, Ham uncovered him further. Noah sinned in putting himself in a position to be seen. Ham took that further and tried to show his father’s nakedness. That was his sin…

Transition: But, look at the response of the other two sons…

b. Noah’s Sons’ Response (8.23)

exp.: rd v 23; they took a garment – actually, the Hebrew has a definite article there. So, it appears that they took the garment. Evidently, because Noah wasn’t covered, Ham grabbed the garment and brought it out to show his brothers. They grabbed it from him and rd 23b; they,

· 4 statements…

– Hung it over their shoulders

– Walked backward

– Turned their faces away from their father

Ø They did not see!

exp.: what we have here is a response that is totally opposite of Ham’s reaction to what he saw. There is some deep compassion and mercy here. I don’t know that this was their goal, but they’re doing what God does. He doesn’t find us in our sin and expose us to the world! No, in his mercy and in his compassion, he covers our sin. And when we act in the same manner, we’re being like God. 1 Peter 4.7-8; sober-minded, cover; Psalm 32;

ill.: You ask, how is this covering their dad God-like? Ultimately, I think of Jesus and how his blood covers our sin and shame. But I love the story of Adam and Eve where they recognized their nakedness and tried to inadequately to cover their own bodies. However, God, in his compassion and mercy took animal skins and covered their shame!

Transition: So we see these brothers – one who exposes his Father’s shame and the other two who cover their father’s shame. So what happens?

3. Noah Speaks (8.24-27)

exp.: rd v 24; and knew; how? Maybe he saw and asked? Maybe his sons just told him? I wonder how this plays out? We don’t see an outcome like with Cain and Abel; with Joseph and his brothers. Fratricide or jealousy among siblings – sibling rivalry; So we read his only recorded words in v 25

1. Curses

o Not Ham, but rather his son, Canaan! Why?

a. Sins are passed on from generation to generation

· Illustration of two NY families

· One family raised up lawyers, senators, professors.

· The other family raised up a few generations of inmates and social service dependants – those whose existence relies on the government for handouts. Maybe this was what was going on with Ham’s sons. Maybe they were doing just like their father and Noah saw it.

· Only God can break this cycle!

b. A Prophetic Oracle – Noah discerned in his sons the moral tendencies, which they displayed. He uttered a prophecy of blessing and curses upon what he saw in them.

c. This is seen in the Canaanite people (Gen 13, 15, 18, 19, 38). Furthermore, Leviticus 18 speaks of prohibition against the practices of the Canaanites (Cf. Lev 18; nakedness 20+ x’s)

d. This would be amazing for them as these words would be read to them and then they would be able to see with their own eyes the way the Canaanite’s lived in the land the Israelites were moving in to take possession of…

o A servant of servants – the lowest of the lowly. This is what the Canaanites became. Historically, Shem’s descendants (Israel) and Japheth’s descendants (Indo-European)

2. Blessings

o Not Shem, but rather – God! Surprise again! As w/ Ham to Canaan, So Shem isn’t blessed per se, but rather Yahweh! The Hebrew, using his name like that implies that Shem is already in a covenant relationship with the Covenant God, Yahweh. The lineage to Israel.

o Japheth – 10.2-5; I believe this is the peoples along coast up toward Macedonia, Achaia. Now, this prophecy isn’t seen in the O.T. No reference to this happening; however, it is in the NT. Galatians 3.29 – through this promise, we are children of Abraham, not because of seed, but by the promise.

App.: we are Abraham’s offspring, if we are saved, because of God’s promise to Shem and Japheth. A promise to the Gentiles, to non-Israel!

ill.: What a beautiful picture! Adam and Eve sinned. God covered their shame. God prophesied that Eve’s offspring would crush his head. God was at work in this from the beginning!

Transition:

4. Noah’s Silent Years (8.28-29)

a. He lives another 350 years after the flood, but we’ve no recorded activities

b. He dies at the ripe old age of 950 years.

Observations:

1. We must be careful and cautious. We are not safe at home! We can’t rely on our surroundings that we’ve become accustomed to living in. We can’t let our guard down because we think we’re safe! Ill.: story of plane that landed in Moscow’s Red Square.

2. We must finish strong. We can’t rely on our past successes. One prof said: Satan will lie in the weeds for 30 years to wait and pounce on you! Just because we came through a flood and were faithful and obedient when we were younger, doesn’t mean that we’re good to go. We must continue in our faithfulness, patience and obedience.

3. We are most like God when we, by love, cover a multitude of sins. This demonstrates our sober-mindedness.

4. We are most unlike God when we are un-loving and try to expose and hurt others.

What about you? What will you take home with you tonight from this lesson?